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In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Josh Galecki and Bryan Skursha tackle Baby Steps, the 2025 overly literal walking simulator developed by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, and Bennett Foddy and published by Devolver Digital. Known for games that turn basic movement into existential comedy (QWOP, Getting Over It, etc.), the team delivers another strange, hilarious experiment in control and patience. We embody Nate, a 35-year-old basement-dwelling failson, who is dropped into a vast mountain wilderness and must literally learn how to walk using deliberately awkward controls which turn every footstep into a small triumph or a catastrophic pratfall. Along the way we dig into the open-ended world design, the absence of a map, the optional “gamer b******t” challenges like hats and dares, and why Baby Steps is less about rage and more about embracing failure, exploration, and weird little stories that only happen because you fell down a hill the wrong way. So listen in as we learn about patience, humility, and how sometimes the only way forward is face-planting, laughing, and taking one more careful step on the path. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Victory in Defeat Josh - Enjoying the Journey

Happy New Year! To kick things off in 2026 we recorded a quick episode on our individual Top 5 Games of the Year for 2025! So listen in as the guys discuss the top 5 games they enjoyed in 2025 among others, take a look forward to 2026, and just generally chill out and reminisce on a year of gaming! Here’s what we talked about: Look back at 2025 The Top 5’s 5’s 4’s 3’s 2’s 1’s Honorable Mentions Games you missed in 2025 and still want to play Things you’re looking forward to in 2026/Games we have our eyes on to cover Take Care and Keep on Gaming in 2026!!! — — — Spoiler Wall — — — . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 5’s Josh Game #5 - Slay the Princess Clint Game #5 - Battlefield 6 Bryan Game #5 - and Roger The 4’s Josh Game #4 - CYPHER ZERO Clint Game #4 - Hollow Knight Silksong Bryan Game #4 - Hollow Knight Silksong The 3’s  Josh Game #3 - Blue Prince Clint Game #3  - The First Berzerker: Khazan Bryan Game #3 - Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 The 2’s  Josh Game #2 - Baby Steps Clint Game #2 - ARC Raiders Bryan Game #2 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 The 1’s  Josh Game #1 - Hollow Knight Silksong Clint Game #1- Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Bryan Game #1 - Promise Mascot Agency

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan, Josh, and Clint finally arrive in Pharloom and dive deep into Hollow Knight: Silksong. We all fell in love with Hollow Knight when it launched in 2017 and even covered it on the show back in 2019, making Silksong a long-anticipated return. Team Cherry—Ari Gibson, William Pellen, and Jack Vine—have come a long way since the original Kickstarter, and Silksong’s journey from planned DLC to full sequel reflects a uniquely protracted and unconventional development cycle. Just as notable is the team’s decision to remain intentionally small, preserving creative control, efficiency, and passion while collaborating with key contributors like composer Christopher Larkin to elevate the experience. Silksong represents a major shift from its predecessor, most notably through Hornet, a fully voiced and evolving protagonist whose presence reshapes both narrative and gameplay. The game emphasizes speed, verticality, and tool-driven combat, with Pharloom’s design flipping Hollow Knight’s downward descent into a constant upward climb. We dig into the game’s layered storytelling—Hornet’s personal arc, the history of Pharloom and its people, and the larger cosmic forces at play—alongside its thematic focus on song, memory, and organized religion. Along the way, we debate difficulty, movement quirks, crest builds, boss design, and the shard system for tools. We also discuss Silksong’s ambitious three-act structure, multiple endings, and whether it not only lives up to the original Hollow Knight. So join us as we close out the year exploring Team Cherry’s world of bugs, beasts, beauty, and bosses. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Smooth as Silk Josh - Flight in Fight Clint - Solid Send Off

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Josh and Bryan dive into a Roguelite Roundup double feature with Loop Hero (2021) and Ball x Pit (2025), exploring how each game twists genre conventions in its own eccentric way. They start with Loop Hero, the 2021 auto-battling, world-rebuilding oddity from Four Quarters, unpacking its eerie DOS-inspired aesthetic, its “zero-player” design origins, and its signature loop structure that blurs the line between dungeon-master and adventurer. Bryan and Josh break down the tension between player strategy and character automation, how tile placement shapes risk and reward, and why the game’s intentionally opaque systems are both fascinating and frustrating. Next we turn to Ball x Pit, the recently released brick-breaker–meets–city-builder from Kenny Sun and Friends. We discuss the game’s gleefully chaotic blend of chunky 3D constructions and crisp pixel effects, its two intertwined gameplay loops, and its ever-expanding roster of characters, buildings, and more than sixty ball types. The conversation digs into the fusion, fission, and evolution mechanics that make every volley unpredictable, the strategic timing involved in choosing upgrades, and the playful experimentation the design encourages. With its brisk metaprogression, flexible buildcrafting, and constant sense of discovery, Ball x Pit feels tightly crafted and refreshingly energetic. Three Word Reviews: Loop Hero: Bryan - Around in Circles Josh - Loops Within Loops Ball X Pit: Bryan - Not the Pits Josh - Leans Too Far

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dive into and Roger, a short but emotionally powerful experience from developer TearyHand Studio. Initially framed as a horror story, the game follows a girl who wakes to find a stranger in her home, with disorienting minigames and high-contrast visuals amplifying her fear and confusion. They discuss the game’s unusual narrative delivery, its WarioWare-like micro-interactions, minimal text, and evocative sound design. What begins as a tense mystery gradually reveals deeper questions about the protagonist, hinting at something more intimate than danger. Later on they explore how the game’s story revelations transforms earlier gameplay into poignant commentary through mechanics rather than exposition. Its notable that while the game concludes with a Bible verse, its message remains universal, human, and deeply felt. And Roger is a memorable, compassionate experience less about fun and more about understanding, which showcases how interactive storytelling can reframe emotions in a remarkable way. Notes: Florence One of 2025's Best Games, And Roger, Is About God, Love, and Loss (Patrick Klepek, Remap) Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Revelation and Reframing Josh - Confusion and Uncertainty

In this episode, Bryan and Josh dive deep into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the 2025 dark fantasy RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive. This is the first outing of director Guillaume Broche, formerly of Ubisoft, featuring a powerhouse voice cast including Jennifer English, Ben Starr, and Charlie Cox, and a wildly eclectic soundtrack by Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percier that spans classical to dubstep. If that wasn’t enough to draw you in the premise of the game alone is one of the more intriguing in recent memory: For the last 67 years, the island of Lumière has endured the “Gommage,” a ritual in which an ethereal being known as the Paintress erases everyone older than a mysteriously dwindling number. Expedition 33 sets out to confront the paintress, them embark on an exploration of how art, death, and memory intertwine within the game’s Belle Époque-inspired world. Bryan and Josh also unpack the game’s richly layered writing and worldbuilding, noting how the prologue perfectly sets the tone and how the setting pulses with French cultural flair, even down to battling a mime in the opening minutes. Clair Obscur features a truly memorable cast, contributing to a story that’s equal parts tragic and hopeful, and while the combat system’s balance of dodge, parry, and unique “Pictos” and “Luminas” mechanics met the challenge of keeping combat snappy and engaging. However, at the end of it all, Clair Obscur’s core themes of death and grief give it both its weight and its beauty, cementing its place as one of 2025’s standout video game experiences. Notes: The impossible (true) stories behind the making of Clair Obscur Expedition 33 The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Lumière Three Word Reviews: Bryan - What Comes After Josh - Overcaffeinated, Moving, Obscure

In this episode Josh and Bryan are talking about Pyre developed by Supergiant Games and released in 2017 for PC, Mac, Linux, and PlayStation 4. Pyre is considered by some to be Supergiant’s most experimental and heartfelt title, a mystical mix of visual novel and ritualistic sport. From the creators of Bastion, Transistor, and Hades, Pyre stands apart for its boldness a “mournful revolution” where victory means saying goodbye to a beloved comrade, and every loss fuels the greater cause of rebellion. With lush art by Jen Zee, music and sound by Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett, and the powerful writing of Greg Kasavin, Pyre delivers a story of loss and revolution. Join us as we resurrect this lost episode of Pixelated Playgrounds to discuss literacy as rebellion, the beauty of bittersweet freedom, and why even in defeat, there’s purpose in pressing onward. Show Notes: Gamedeveloper.com - How Supergiant Games aggressively prototyped its way into Pyre Darren Korb going hard as usual (Never to Return, Supergiant In Concert) Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Rites, Remorse, Revolution Josh - Single Player Sport

In this episode Bryan and Josh are diving into UFO 50, the long-awaited indie collaboration from Derek Yu, Jon Perry, Eirik Suhrke, Paul Hubans, Ojiro Fumoto, and Tyriq Plummer. It collects fifty original games into one sprawling anthology made by a fictional company called UFO Soft between 1982 and 1989. They explore its meta-narrative, collective authorship, its “lost console” aesthetic, and how its ambitious scope becomes a keen commentary on the experience of creating games across a console generation. From the clever chaos of Party House to the moody depths of Porgy and the sprawling weirdness of Grimstone, we’ll talk about which games could stand alone and which thrive because they exist in conversation with the rest. Not every game shines equally, but together they form a unique love letter to game-making and retro gaming. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Crafty Creative Cornucopia Josh - A Design Feast Show Notes: TIGsource - The Indie Game Source Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games Michael Brough

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh explore the impossible geometry of Monument Valley, the 2014 iOS puzzle classic from ustwo games that transformed the mobile landscape with its serene vibes, minimalist Escher-inspired design, and ingenious visual mechanics. Listen in as the guys dive into the game’s meditative atmosphere, its sparse but evocative storytelling through Princess Ida’s journey, and the meticulous development process that focused on polish over size. They also reflect on how Monument Valley stood apart in an era of noisy, ad-driven free-to-play titles, becoming a landmark “art game” that proved mobile experiences could be elegant, premium, and profoundly moving—all while sparking a legacy that continues to influence indie design today. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Platform Perspective Shift Josh - Delightful Puzzle Box Show Notes: Relativity, MC. Escher US Two Interview Article

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dive into Cipher Zero, the minimalist logic puzzler developed by Boston-based indie studio Zapdot and released in July 2025. Beginning life as a Ludum Dare entrant, Cipher Zero has evolved into a sprawling collection of nearly 400 handcrafted puzzles, each one teaching players through experimentation rather than exposition. With its sleek UI, geometric art, and reactive industrial soundtrack, the game communicates ideas wordlessly, then layers and recombines them to expand what’s possible within its puzzle language. The guys explore its satisfying rule discovery, linear progression, and the elegance of its design choices while also considering where its lack of hints or philosophical pretension set it apart from genre peers. Spoilers abound after the first 29 minutes, so join us as we pick apart how Cipher Zero turns tile toggling into a gamified learning curve full of gratifying “aha” moments. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Gamified Learning Curve Josh - Start with Silence Show Notes: Composer - Will Seegers Chris Remo Josh’s Talk for Roguelike Celebration 2023 A Monster’s Expedition: Through Puzzling Exhibitions & Snakebird

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dive into the cozy corner of gaming with two titles redefining what it means to “play” in the background: Rusty’s Retirement, the low-screen-real-estate Stardew that keeps your crops thriving while you multitask, and Spirit City: Lo-Fi Sessions, a beautiful blend of productivity and play that turns your to-do list into an aesthetic experience. We’ll unpack how these games fit (or don’t fit) into our lives, explore why ambient gaming is on the rise, and debate whether these functional, low-pressure titles are the future of the cozy game trend or just a passing vibe. Along the way, we’ll touch on the fascinating stories of their developers, the design philosophies behind these multitask-friendly experiences, and how they blur the line between tool and entertainment. Tune in as we break down what makes these experiences so compelling even as they push you away to go do other things. Three Word Reviews: Spirit City: Lo Fi Sessions Bryan - Chill Life Admin Josh - A Different Drummer Rusty's Retirement Bryan - Second Screen Stardew Josh - Chill Garden Party Music Used: To the Beach by Mondo Loops Vermillion Cliffs by Odem Medo Last River by InternalEye When Stars Lit Up the Sky by lost.mindd Lars Asger - Carrot Lars Asger - March of the Machines Lars Asger - Seven Minus Two Lars Asger - Sun Beam Lars Asger - Stream Early Garden - Secret Messages Coastal Moods - MujjO

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds Bryan and Josh explore Metal Garden, a short but atmospheric indie FPS from solo Croatian developer Alexandra Herout aka Tinerasoft. Set in a crumbling megastructure reclaimed by nature, the game blends old-school shooting mechanics with immersive environmental storytelling, subtle lore, and haunting mid-2000s aesthetics. Ammo scarcity, limb damage, and weighty weapons make every encounter tense, while double-jump platforming and cryptic logs reward exploration with glimpses into a forgotten Dyson-scale civilization. The game’s sparse dialogue and ambient sound design evoke a sense of isolation and scale far beyond the game's runtime. So tune in as we dive into Metal Garden's bleak beauty and brutal combat while pondering the lingering question: Why do we keep descending? Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Subtlety is Key Josh - Small Rusty Flower

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh plunge into the pachinko-powered chaos of Peglin and Ballionaire: Two roguelikes that reimagine physics-based randomness as strategic gameplay. From Peglin’s fantasy-infused, Slay-the-Spire-meets-Peggle mechanics to Ballionaire’s neon-drenched, idle arcade spectacle, they discuss how each title transforms the humble falling ball into a vehicle for experimentation, synergies, and absurd score-chasing. Along the way, they dive into the history and design choices behind each game, compare their approaches to randomness and agency, and ask whether these games elevate pachinko or merely dress it up in genre trappings. It’s a rollicking discussion full of crit builds, capitalist satire, and enough bouncing orbs to make Peggle proud. Three Word Reviews: Peglin: Bryan - Adaptation, Not Evolution Josh - Ball and Chain Ballionaire: Bryan - Overwhelming Chaotic Spectacle Josh - Flashy, Shiny, Flat

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dive into Umurangi Generation, the vibrant, potent, and subversive photography game from Māori developer Naphtali Faulkner. Set in a near-future Aotearoa (New Zealand) under invasion and authoritarian control, the game asks players not to save the world, but to document its unraveling. Bryan and Josh explore how Faulkner’s anger at systemic failure, fueled by the bushfires and pandemic response, shapes the game’s unapologetic aesthetics, themes, and searing environmental storytelling. From graffiti-covered skate parks to militarized train stations, every frame you capture is an indictment, not an escape. Bryan and Josh also discuss Umurangi Generation’s unique take on photography as play, protest, and preservation. Through its deliberately clunky movement, time-bound challenges, and varied levels, the game interrogates the tension between art and commerce, beauty and collapse. As Māori language and culture saturate its design, Umurangi Generation’s world feels deeply personal and localized, yet globally resonant. This isn’t a story of revolution or heroism—it’s a quiet, furious insistence on witnessing collapse. Join us as we unpack how Umurangi Generation turns a camera into a weapon of truth in a world on the brink. Show Notes: Interview containing the Quote Bryan shared: The Umurangi Generation is Asking You To Care Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Documenting the Fall Josh - Afraid of Judgement

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh jack into the neon-drenched, yet utterly dismal world of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red’s ambitious yet turbulent foray into dystopian sci-fi. Based on Mike Pondsmith’s classic tabletop RPG, the game places players in the boots of V, a mercenary struggling to survive in the megacity of Night City while sharing brain space with a digital ghost. From bugs to bikes, dialogue quirks to faction dynamics, Josh and Bryan dissect how Cyberpunk 2077 blends cyber-noir tropes, world-building, and RPG systems, even as it wrestles with its own lofty promises and troubled launch. We’d be remiss to leave out the game’s deep character cast and the player-driven story arcs that branch through romances, alliances, and explosive conclusions. They also break down the nuts and bolts of gameplay, from combat builds and progression to stealth, hacking, and high-octane firefights. Along the way, they examine the design of Night City itself—its architectural storytelling, traversal options, and sense of place. Whether you're a Nomad, Corpo, or Street Kid, this spoiler-filled discussion digs into the chrome and circuitry of what makes Cyberpunk 2077 flawed, fascinating, and, at times, pretty preem. Three Word Reviews: Bryan - Necessary Human Element Josh - The Spaces Between